RESUMO
The aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular mechanism associated with the traditional Chinese medicine formula Gui Zhu Yi Kun formula (GZYKF), in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In this study, granulosa cells (GCs) of rats with PCOS were cultured and treated with testosterone propionate (TP) alone or with serum from rats treated with different doses of GZYKF. The effect of TP on cell growth was assayed using the MTT method. Expression levels of Beclin-1, light chain (LC)3, mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), tumor suppressor p53 (p53), adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), sestrin2 and tuberous sclerosis protein 1/2 were evaluated using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. It was demonstrated that TP increased the expression of Beclin-1 and LC3, whereas GZYKF significantly decreased the TP-induced expression of Beclin-1 (P<0.01). Additionally, GCs treated with GZYKF exhibited significant increases in mTOR, phosphorylated mTOR and AMPKα expression levels, and significant reductions in p53 and sestrin2 expression levels were observed. In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggest that a reduction in ovarian GCs in rats with PCOS may be associated with GC autophagy. Furthermore, the effects of GZYKF in mediating the p53/AMPK pathway may inhibit GC autophagy, which suggests a possible novel mechanism underlying the treatment of PCOS with GZYKF.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes and their elements in people with subhealth fatigue. METHODS: The TCM symptoms in line with the diagnostic criteria of subhealth fatigue status were collected by clinical investigations and using information collection form based on TCM four diagnostic methods. Referred to Clinical Guidelines of Chinese Medicine on Subhealth and other related standards, the syndrome type was identified in accordance with clinical symptoms of each patient with subhealth fatigue by two physicians. The data of syndrome differentiation were analyzed by descriptive statistical analysis. RESULTS: There were 81 syndrome types from 495 cases of subhealth fatigue. There were 24 syndrome types after separation, and the top ten were liver stagnation and spleen deficiency, stagnation of liver qi, hyperactivity of liver fire, disharmony between liver and stomach, damp obstruction due to spleen deficiency, deficiency of both heart and spleen, yin deficiency of liver and kidney, yang deficiency of spleen and kidney, stagnation of gallbladder and disturbance of phlegm, and internal disturbance of phlegm-heat. There were 17 syndrome elements, including seven disease location elements and ten disease nature elements. The disease location elements were liver, spleen, kidney, stomach, heart, gallbladder and lung. The disease nature elements were qi stagnation, qi deficiency, exuberance of fire (heat), damp obstruction, phlegm obstruction, yin deficiency, adverse flow of qi, yang deficiency, blood deficiency, and blood stasis. CONCLUSION: Syndrome types of subhealth fatigue involve in deficiency syndrome, excess syndrome, and mixture of deficiency and excess syndromes. The syndrome elements of disease location involve five zang organs and two fu organs, and the liver and spleen were the most frequently involved organs. The syndrome elements of disease nature involve deficiency and excess. Qi stagnation is most frequently involved in the excess syndrome, and qi deficiency is most frequently involved in the deficiency syndrome.
